


Makes Me Whole

by forgotmyline



Series: Fic Swaps [6]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, F/M, da ficswap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-10-19 08:58:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10636593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forgotmyline/pseuds/forgotmyline
Summary: Kara Amell receives word that Alistair is trapped on an unknown planet at the far reaches of the galaxy and now presumed dead. She decides that she just doesn't accept that and tries to find a way to get him back.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the DA fic swap over on tumblr (sci-fi round), and is super late because I'm the worst.

TO: Warden Commander Amell

FROM: The Nightingale

SUBJECT: Mission report: Codename - The Abyss

Kara,

I’ve included the full mission report as an attachment, but thought you deserved a brief rundown of what happened before diving into it. The mission was… well, a success, but one that cost much. The Inquisitor managed to stop the Orlesian branch of your order, with help from Hawke and Alistair. The Orlesian wardens, I’m afraid, had been manipulated into sacrificing some of their own in order to gain power, power which they thought would help them end the threat of the darkspawn horde forever. They were wrong, of course, and Warden Commander Clarel realized it, though a bit too late. A rift was open, a wormhole leading to a part of the universe known as the Fade. The Inquisitor was pulled through, as were several of her companions, Hawke, and Alistair. From what I could gather, they faced nightmarish creatures and barely escaped through a second rift. Kara, I’m sorry to tell you that they only escaped because Alistair volunteered to stay back, fighting an unknown species of alien, allowing everyone else to get back to safety. The wormhole was closed behind them, with Alistair trapped in the Fade, presumed dead. 

I… I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you such news in person, my friend. I cannot even begin to comprehend what you must be feeling right now. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have need of anything.

Yours,

Leliana

Kara read the missive again, the fourth time in the last few minutes that she had done so. It just wasn’t  _ possible _ that he was gone. She had taken her ship, a Griffon class military reconnaissance ship named  _ Revas _ , and gone rogue several years ago on an unsanctioned mission of her own. It was for Alistair, of course... Well, for both of them really. They were Grey Wardens, a specialized branch of the Theodosian Military Coalition founded nearly a thousand years ago to stop the encroaching darkspawn horde. The war against them had gone through periods of success, followed by long periods of fighting. The darkspawn, aliens who came from a distant planet in a section of the Outer Reaches so remote that it was known as the Deep Roads, kept coming for more. Nobody truly knew what drove them, but the Grey Wardens were the galaxy’s best hope against them. 

It came at a cost, of course. Didn’t everything though? The first Wardens had managed, through experimentation the rest of humanity would be horrified to learn about, to splice darkspawn DNA into their own. It… it changed them. There were advantages to this - they were able to tap into the darkspawn’s hivemind, not completely, but enough to sense when they were getting close. The Wardens were able to to prepare for their attacks, which had been instrumental in several key battles. The Wardens were also the only ones with the ability to kill the darkspawn leaders, generals know by humanity as archdemons. Monstrous beasts, each able to control vast hordes of lesser darkspawn. Thankfully, they were rare - only one appeared every several hundred years. That’s when the darkspawn were given a  _ purpose _ , and direction. They would venture into the core of the galaxy then, closer to the worlds of humans, of elves, of dwarves, sowing chaos and destruction in their wake. Blights, as this phenomenon was called, only happened every few hundred years. Kara and Alistair had been instrumental in stopping one just over a decade ago, both lauded as heroes after. It wasn’t something she had ever wanted and some days she wasn’t sure the cost was worth it.

They carried within their DNA an alien taint, the very thing that allowed them to stop the darkspawn slowing turning their own bodies against them. There was no cure for it, and eventually the low hum of the darkspawn that every Grey Warden heard in their minds became a symphony, music too loud to ignore. It signaled the end, the point when the tainted DNA began to overpower their own. Nearly every other Grey Warden before her had sacrificed themselves in the Deep Roads, taking as many of the darkspawn with them as they could. Kara Amell, however, was not every other Grey Warden. She began to hear the song, the hum growing louder, and louder until she couldn’t ignore it. Alistair, too, was hearing it and that’s what cemented the thoughts she had into solid plans - she was going to find a way to cure whatever it was that made this happen to them. They had saved the galaxy; surely they deserved to live out their lives together in peace.

 

So she had taken the  _ Revas _ and started a mission of her own. There had been rumors of a galaxy that was near theirs, Veridis, that had no darkspawn. Rumors that the creatures that inhabited the planets at the farthest edge had made contact with their own galaxy, that their technology far surpassed that of Thedas, that maybe they had a way to separate the alien DNA from the human without killing the person they were trying to save. She made contact with a former companion of hers, one she had not seen since the final battle of the last blight. Morrigan had sent her some information that she thought would be helpful, and it  _ was _ . Kara didn’t like to think of some of the people she had come into contact with in order to upgrade her ship with the technology needed to get her to Veridis. It was necessary, though, and worth it. It had taken many years, and even more money, but she had made it. She was clean now, untainted, and she carried on her ship the equipment and knowledge given to her by the aliens she met. 

And when she finally made it back to Thedas and back into communications range, she had found the message from Leliana waiting on her terminal, dated 3 months ago. Kara ran a hand through her thick, fiery waves before placing both hands on her desk and leaning over her terminal. She was… Maker, she didn't even know what to feel. Kara could feel tears threatening to spill, so she closed her eyes tight, keeping them in. She would not allow her crew to see her breakdown.

_ Trapped in the fade, presumed dead _ . Presumed. That meant there was still a chance and she'd done a lot more with a lot less. She stood tall and motioned her navigator over to her terminal. “Find out everything you can about this wormhole to the Fade, Varel. Find us a way to get there.”

*****

Alistair didn’t believe it, not at first. This place, the planet he had been stranded on for Maker only knew how long at this point, it had a way of messing with a person, with the way they perceived reality. The atmosphere was breathable, and he had managed to survive on some of the local plants and small creatures, if only just. But there was something in the air, or maybe in what he ate that made him  _ see _ things. Nightmare visions of unnatural creatures. He’d call them demons if he didn’t know better. Spectral clones of those he cared about haunted him, in both his waking and sleeping moments. They taunted him, these mockeries of those he used to know. Morrigan telling him that she always knew he would amount to nothing, Duncan sneering at him, saying he obviously made a mistake when he chose him for the Grey Wardens. The worst, of course, was Kara.

Maker, but he missed her, and he supposed that was why his mind conjured its nightmare version of her so often. Her fiery hair was always dull and faded, her blue eyes almost lifeless, and deep purple bruising along her body that signaled the alien DNA’s taint taking over. He knew with every fiber in his being that it wasn’t real, that this version of Kara wasn’t real, but it still felt like his heart was breaking into a million tiny pieces every time this ghost of her mocked him, telling him that she never really loved him, and she was glad to finally be rid of him.

This time though… Well, there was something different about her. He had been crouched behind some sort of rock formation, hiding from yet another creature bent on his demise. He understood, of course, he just didn’t quite feel like being anything else’s dinner just yet. His breathing was heavy, growing more erratic, and he thought he probably didn’t have much left in him at this point. That’s why he assumed it was another vision, his broken mind and damaged body playing tricks on him again. But, well, she looked  _ solid _ this time, and he couldn't stop himself from standing and reaching out an arm to her. Maker, she looked just as he remembered her, the real Kara, of course. Bright red hair, longer than the last time they had seen each other, deep blue eyes that widened when she spied him, the blue and gray armor that was the signature of the Grey Warden’s. She was covered in various bits of gore after having, he assumed, finished off the creature that had been stalking him, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had seen her look quite so beautiful.

Yep, he was definitely dying, and his mind was giving him reprieve from all the terrible visions he had been having and giving him something he actually wanted before he slipped away into oblivion. Only, he felt fine, more or less. Yes, he was tired, and hungry, and he had lost too much weight, but he didn’t exactly  _ feel _ as though he was dying, and really, a man ought to feel it, shouldn’t he? And she was coming closer still, running now as she called his name. It was definitely a vision - there was no way Kara could be here on this Maker forsaken planet. And yet, she still kept coming. 

His heart was pounding, and though he wanted to move towards her as well, he found that his feet had somehow become rooted to the spot where he was standing. It didn't matter, not really, because it wasn't long before she was standing before him, her hands almost tentative as she reached out and cupped his cheeks.

_ She was real _ , he thought, before saying it aloud. He felt a bit stupid, until she laughed. A light, chuckle and maybe the loveliest sound he had ever heard. “Of course, I'm real, Alistair.”

He leaned into her as she ran her hands up and into his hair. Her scent was familiar, comforting, and it finally registered that Kara was in this hell with him. “I… I’ve seen you, but not you. How are you really here?” 

She didn't answer him, instead pulling his face closer and nuzzling into the crook of his neck and taking a deep breath. When she pulled away, she flashed him a familiar wry grin, but he saw a fleeting sadness in her eyes before she spoke again. “I’m not sure about the beard... hair’s a bit long for my liking,” she whispered, her voice hoarse as she sized him up. “And we should really get you a proper meal. I suppose you'll do though. I've got a ship not too far from here - what do you think about coming home with me?”

Maker, but he needed that, the joking and her tenderness with him. He pulled her close, enveloping her in a tight embrace and nearly crying with relief when she wrapped her arms around him too. It had been far too long since he had felt the touch of another human and it undid him, tears his dehydrated and undernourished body couldn’t really spare falling down his cheeks and into her hair. “But how did you get here, Kara?”

He let her go, slow and reluctant because he wanted to savor the feel of her pressed against him, even with their armor acting as a barrier. “Oh, you know,” she shrugged, “I already stole a ship to save you from one thing. I figured I might as well take it through a mysterious wormhole to locations unknown to save you from something else.” 

“And the real answer?”

She paused as if considering, one hand in his, the other resting on her gun. “I made it to Veridis, you know. Met a group of humans who had integrated into a colony of an alien species. They had technology I couldn't even dream of, Alistair. I… I let them run tests on me. They weren't awful, but they weren't exactly fun either. It was worth it though, because they were able to separate and extract the darkspawn DNA from my body. And I have everything we’ll need to do the same for you or any other Grey Warden that wants. And let’s not forget that I've killed an archdemon and lived to tell the tale. I'm not exactly unfamiliar with doing the impossible. So when I got Leliana’s message and saw the words  _ presumed dead _ , well, I figured what’s one more impossible thing?”

She had moved closer as she spoke, everything about her invading his senses. Her scent, her touch, the red of her hair even clouding his vision. And then her lips were on his, soft and warm against his own severely chapped lips, and the only thought he had room for was that he had found his home again. Her tongue darted out, licking the seam of his lips until he opened for her,  a low moan escaping him when he tasted her. There were few perfect moments in life, but this, right then? Alistair was pretty sure it made the list.

The kiss was far too short. Kara pulled away and looked at him, placing her hands on either side of his face to make sure she had his complete attention. “There is no me without you, Alistair. I had no other choice but to come to this planet for you, whether to bring you home with me or to die here trying. Now let’s get you home.”

  
  
  
  
  



End file.
